In a career, most judges are lucky to get one case that has national appeal.
Judge Norbert Nadel, who presided over Pete Rose's case against Major League Baseball in 1989, saw to it Tuesday that he will have two such cases.
Instead of following well- established court procedures -- and possibly legal rules -- Judge Nadel, the presiding judge in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, assigned himself to hear the obscenity trial of Larry Flynt.
The move came after the original judge stepped down to avoid a potential conflict of interest. In most cases of recusal, the matter is almost always randomly reassigned by rolling a marked pill out of a bottle, court officials say.
But before the case could be rerolled, Judge Nadel snatched it. He did not return calls for comment, but in court documents he indicates he has the right, as chief judge, to assign the case as he sees fit.
Defense attorney H. Louis Sirkin is furious, saying the maneuver smacks of cheating. He spent part of his day looking for ways to challenge the appointment.
"I don't mind necessarily that Judge Nadel has it, but I'm bothered with the fact that it wasn't rerolled," Mr. Sirkin said. "It has the smell of impropriety."
Rick Dove, the Ohio Supreme Court's associate director for legal and legislative services, said the case was not handled according to rules that govern the court system. He said that two of the rules, when read together, require that cases like Mr. Flynt's be assigned in the same manner as new cases.
"It's got to go back," he said.
If the case is not reassigned by random and the trial ends in conviction, the issue could become fodder for appeal, attorneys say.
Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph Deters said attorneys on the case will meet today with Judge Nadel to discuss the issue.
"My feeling is that everything in this case should be done absolutely perfect, as much as humanly possible," Mr. Deters said.
